Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Key Points

• Barclays saw unusually heavy call-option activity, with investors purchasing 5,014 calls—about 90% above its typical volume of 2,641 contracts.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: five analysts rate Barclays a Buy and four rate it a Hold, giving the stock a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”
• Barclays beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.90 in EPS and $10.95 billion in revenue, while shares slipped 0.4% to $27.13 in Wednesday trading.

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 5,014 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 90% compared to the typical volume of 2,641 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BCS shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Barclays in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Barclays from an "overweight" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Barclays from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Barclays during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Barclays by 3,036.4% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Barclays Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BCS traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,841,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,236,976. Barclays has a 52-week low of $19.28 and a 52-week high of $28.68. The firm has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.76.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.78 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 22.27%. Analysts expect that Barclays will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.3134 per share. This represents a yield of 224.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Barclays's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.39%.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC NYSE: BCS is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.

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